Why don't you want me to be me?
by ZiziLover
Summary: Zidane Tribal has a pretty bad home life. When thigs get as bad as they can get he is sent away to a new school. He hates this school at first but then starts to like it... Also likes a certain girl he meets. To know more you'll have to read it!


Disclaimer: I do notown ff9... sadly... -tear-

Okay... Hi there!!! I'm Abi... and this is like my first fan fic... so please don't be too mean!! Well yeah... R&R please!!!

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**-First Day of School-**

"Umm... Hey Zidane, The bell just rang. Don't you think that we should get to class?" "Nah... No one will miss us." Zidane Tribal and Cinna Jentoast were walking down the halls of Maklend High. "Mr. Tribal and Mr. Jentoast... Don't you have somewhere to be?" "Oh no, Zidane! It's the principal! We are in a lot of trouble!" Cinna said in a panicky voice. "Will you chill out, man. Since when have I been scared of the principal? She can't do anything to me." Zidane turned to his "lovely" principal, and said. "Nah. We don't have anywhere to be. But don't you?" Mrs. Macnyah stared at Zidane for a few seconds. Then her face started to get really red. She looked as if she was about to blow. Cinna looked at Zidane with a scared look on his face. He was sweating really badly. "Zidane... you shouldn't have said that. She's really mad now. You're going to get in a lot of trouble. And I'm probably going to, too. Do you know what my mother will do if she gets another phone call from the school? She will kill me. I'm a dead man Zidane. A DEAD MAN!!!" Zidane just stared at Cinna. "Yeah..." was all he said. "Come on Zidane! I don't want to get in trouble. Please. For one day. Just ONE day. Can't we do what we are supposed to? Please!" "Oh come on Cinna. You worry too much. Besides... what is she going to do to us? Send us to another school?" Zidane said in a sarcastic manner. "You know what, that's a very good idea Mr. Tribal." Retorted Mrs. Macnyah. "Oh no! Oh no! Zidane! You got us in a lot of trouble now! Oh no!" Cinna looked as if he were going to have a panic attack. "Oh. Don't worry Mr. Jentoast. You didn't do anything wrong, so of course I'm not going to send you to another school." At this Cinna started to chill out a little. Then he looked at Zidane. "Well... what's going to happen to Zidane ma'am?" Zidane had just been staring at Mrs. Macnyah the whole time. He didn't actually believe that she would send him to another school. "Well, Mr. Tribal will find that out in the morning. Do you understand what that means, Mr. Tribal?" asked Mrs. Macnyah in a "too sweet" way. "Yes ma'am. I know what that means." Zidane said with a glare in his eye. He had never liked Mrs. Macnyah. And now he hated her. She wasn't actually going to send him to another school, was she? Could she? "Then what does it mean. I mean, I do need to know that you know what I mean so that I'm not kept waiting or anything." Several times when Zidane had been sent to the principal's office he wouldn't show up and then he would use the excuse that he didn't know what they were talking about. This was very typical of Zidane. "You mean to come to your office when I first get here in the morning." Zidane said through gritted teeth. Mrs. Macnyah could see that he was mad and it made her happy. I mean... come on.. Zidane Tribal had never really been her favorite student. "Now Move on to class boys."

**-Later at lunch-**

"Hi, Zidane!! Do you want to come and sit with me and my friends at our table?" A cheerful girl that was about a year younger than Zidane was standing in front of him and Cinna. "Uhhh... not today Mel." "Okay! Well... How about tomorrow? We always have room for you at our table!" The girl known as Mel said in a cheerful voice. "Heh. I'll think about it." "Thanks Zidane!! See ya!" And with that she went over to a table and sat down with a bunch of other girls her age. "Man, Zidane! Mel has liked you since... like the 6th grade! She is obsessed!" Cinna said. "Yeah. Don't I know it." Zidane and Cinna got their food and found a place to sit down. "Man, you are really lucky." Cinna said with a small frown on his face. "Oh, and how is that?" Zidane asked. Cinna just sat there and stared at him. "I'm lucky because I always seem to get myself in trouble no matter what I do? I'm lucky because everything that my sister and brother do I get in trouble for it? I'm lucky because my dad has a drinking problem and if he's drunk and I come home a minute late I get beat up? I'm lucky because..." "Okay, okay, Zidane. I get it." Now the frown was gone from Cinna face and he looked really guilty. He even looked as if he were about to start crying. He knew that Zidane's home life wasn't all that great. But he couldn't help being jealous of him. All of the girls in Maklend High were in love with him. Zidane could have any girl he wanted. And no one ever liked Cinna. Come to think of it... Cinna didn't even know why Zidane was his friend. Not only his friend, but his BEST friend. Zidane was the perfect bad boy that everyone wanted. And Cinna was an anti-social, goody-two-shoes, mama's boy, loser. So, why was Zidane his friend? "Um... Zidane..?" "Yeah, what is it Cinna?" "Well, I was just wondering..." "Yeah?" "Why are you my friend?" "Ugh. Cinna. Haven't I explained this to you before?" Cinna replied with a blank stare. "I don't care about what other people think about you. I think that you are a cool person. And you're a good friend. That's all that matters to me." Cinna started smiling really big. And it looked again, as if he were going to cry. He had never had such a great friend. "Oh come on Cinna, don't get all mushy on me." Right then the bell wrang. Zidane gave a groan and got up. He hated fifth period. He hated every period. But especially fifth period. Fifth period was math. Not only the worst subject, but also, taught by the worst teacher. Mrs. Dungmire hated every, single, one of her students. Good and bad. But if you were bad. Of course it was worse. So every time Zidane was in her class he was basically in hell. He didn't really care, though. The only thing she could do was yell for the whole period. And call his dad, of course. He didn't care if she called his dad, unless his dad was drunk. Which his dad seemed to be a lot, these days. For the past two weeks Mrs. Dungmire had called Zidane's dad every, single, day. And his dad had been drunk when he got home for nine of those days. Zidane had decided that whether he was at school or at home, his life was hell.

Zidane and Cinna walked into the classroom. Mrs. Dungmire was glaring at them. "Have a seat boys. Unless today you would like to start the class with me calling your father, Mr. Tribal." Zidane just gave a shrug and sat down. All he wanted to do was cuss the hell out of that fucking bitch, but he knew that if he did he would defiantly get thrown out of school, and he didn't really feel like getting beat up again tonight. Another reason why Zidane hated this class was because of where he sat. He sat in the middle of a bunch of preps. He didn't have a problem with preps. He even liked a lot of them. It was just these certain preps. They hated him and they would always make fun of him because of the way that he dressed and acted. That's why he hated being around them so much. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? He didn't make fun of the way that they dressed or acted. Zidane hated his school. He hated his whole town. Everyone there was the same. They all dressed the same and acted the same. It was like they all had the same mind. He hated it. He hated it all! Sometimes he just wanted to get away. But he could never leave his little sister and brother alone with his dad. His dad had never hurt one of them. But if Zidane wasn't there for him to hurt, he might. Zidane looked up at Mrs. Dungmire. She had gone into one of her long boring lectures. Zidane just sighed and put his head down on his desk. The next thing he knew Mrs. Dungmire was beside his desk yelling at him. He raised his head. He looked at her with not much emotion on his face. Mrs. Dungmire just stood there for a few seconds then she said in a very loud voice, "Exactly what do you think you were doing, young man?" Zidane just looked up at her for a few minutes. Half of the class thought that he wasn't going to answer her question. He finally said "I was tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. So I thought that it would be a good time to take a nap. Since we weren't doing anything." "Weren't doing anything?!?" The anger showed on Mrs. Dungmire's face. She was very easily angered. "ZIDANE TRIBAL! GO TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE!" Zidane just sat there. She glared at him, wondering why he wasn't moving. "Do I have to? I already have to go first thing in the morning. Can't I just tell her what I did then?" "Oh, and why are you going to the principal first thing in the morning, Mr. Tribal?" Mrs. Dungmire said with false sweetness in her voice. "I dunno." Is all Zidane said. He really didn't feel like explaining everything to Mrs. Dungmire and his whole fifth period class. "Use proper English in my class Mr. Tribal. It is 'I don't know' not 'I dunno'. Dunno is not a word in the dictionary. And I do believe that you do know why you have to go in the morning." Zidane just shruged. He was tired of his English being corrected by his math teacher. He wished that she would just stick to the subject she was getting paid to teach. "I'm getting expelled, or something like that. I really dunno." Mrs. Dungmire glared at Zidane for a second. But then a smile came a cross her face. "Expelled?" "Yeah. That's what Mrs. Macnyah said." Mrs. Dungmire started laughing very quietly. "Well then, let's get back to math then." And she went back to teaching. Zidane just laid his head back down on his desk and the next thing he knew the bell was ringing.

Zidane and Cinna walked out of the class. Cinna was still real panicky. He didn't see how Zidane couldn't care about being expelled. "Zidane, don't you think that you should be just a little worried?" Zidane looked over at Cinna. From the way that Zidane was looking at him, if Cinna didn't know Zidane better, he would have thought that Zidane was on drugs. It was just the way that his eyes were out of focus. And the way that he just didn't seem to care about anything. But Cinna knew that Zidane stopped doing drugs a long time ago. Zidane just shook his head. And all he said was "I haven't been expelled yet, have I?" Yes, it was true that Zidane had been threatened to be expelled several times. But Cinna couldn't see how he was so certain that it wasn't going to happen this time. Maybe Zidane just really didn't care if he got expelled. Cinna didn't know. And he knew that Zidane wouldn't tell him if he asked. So he decided to just stop thinking about it. Sixth period was Science. Cinna was really bad in science so he didn't have the same sixth period class as Zidane. After they had walked half way down the hall Cinna walked into his classroom and Zidane kept on walking. He walked until he was at the last class on the whole hall, and then he walked into it. It was a really dark class. It had to be dark because it had a bunch of weird plants growing in it that could only grow in the dark and if they got to much sun light they would die. Zidane didn't really mind this class. It wasn't hard and the teacher didn't really care about him. Mr. Yelowits was a weird one. He taught the whole class as if they weren't even there. He would stare off into space while he was teaching. That's why he was Zidane's favorite teacher. Zidane had never gotten in trouble in his class. Not once. Zidane didn't even know if Mr. Yelowits knew he existed. He didn't know if he knew anyone existed. But that's why he liked him. You didn't have to pay attention in his class. You could sleep. You could read. You could talk on the phone. And none of it mattered. Mr. Yalowits never paid any attention to it. No one ever got in trouble in his class. And for all his class knew, he couldn't even see them. He had never talked to them. He had never said any of their names. He never called role in the morning. So anyone could skip his class. But no one ever did, because it was the only class that you could do whatever you wanted in and not get in trouble. And for some strange reason, sometimes Zidane even paid attention when Mr. Yalowits was teaching. This was strange, because Zidane Tribal did not pay attention in class. And everyone knew it. But sometimes he paid attention to Mr. Yelowits. Maybe it was because he was bored and he was tired of sleeping. Maybe it was because he liked science. Or maybe it was because he liked the way that Mr. Yelowits taught. Zidane didn't know. But half of the time in Science he would find himself paying attention. Today was one of those days. He was just sitting there and the next thing he knew he was being dragged into what Mr. Yalowits' was saying. It was really strange. Zidane didn't see how it connected to science. Well, he saw how it connected to science. Just not the science that they were supposed to be learning. Some girl in the class raising her hand to ask a question. But like always, Mr. Yalowits appeared not to see her. He was staring into the beyond, as everyone who had ever been in his class had put it. The girl obviously really wanted her question answered because she got up out of her seat and went up to him and said "Um… Mr. Yalowits?" Mr. Yalowits did not reply so the girl, realizing that she wasn't going to get him to answer no matter what, went back to her desk and sat down. She sat in the desk in front of Zidane. She knew that he was pretty smart so she turned around and asked "Do you have any clue what he is talking about? And are we supposed to be learning this stuff this year? Because if we are, I don't think I'm going to pass my exam." She had a worried look on her face. She was a new student who had just gotten there about a month ago. Zidane smiled at her and said "No, I don't know what he's talking about. My guess is its something that some college kid studying to be a scientist is learning right now. And no, we aren't supposed to be learning it this year. I think that Mr. Yalowits might have smelt a little too many chemicals. And don't worry about the exams. If you don't pass, then it probably means that no one is going to pass. Not even that nerdy guy over there," Zidane pointed at a kid in the very first seat in the front row. Everyday, in every class, this kid sits staring at the teacher. Never taking his eyes off of them. And somehow he manages to take notes too. "then they will curve the exam and none of it will matter." "The girl looked really happy. "You're Zidane Tribal, right?" She asked with a sweet little innocent smile. "Yep, in the flesh and blood." She gave a quiet little giggle and said "You don't seem as bad as everyone says you are." Zidane just smiled. He didn't know how to reply to that. And he didn't really want to reply either. "Well, you know my name. So, what's yours?" She smiled. Zidane thought that she was really cute. She was kind of short and she had long blonde hair pulled back in a half up. And she had the prettiest blue eyes that Zidane had ever seen. "I'm Isabelle." She said with a nice soft smile. "That's a real pretty name." Zidane said just gazing into her eyes. At that moment something exploded in the front of the room. Everyone looked up. And the people who had been paying attention gasped. A big plant that had been right above me Yelowits head had exploded and fallen down on him. Now Mr. Yalowits was lying in the middle of the floor unconscious. Everyone was just sitting there in their seats. No one got up to do anything. Finally Zidane realized that no one was going to do anything. So, he got up and walked to the front of the room. He picked up the big plant to put it down on the table but just as he was setting it down Mrs. Macnyah walked in the room. She looked from the plant in Zidane's hands to Zidane to Mr. Yalowits who lay unconscious on the ground. The she looked to the class for an explanation, even though the look on her face told everyone that she didn't need one. Everyone in the class was still in shock over what had just happened. Nothing like this had ever happened at Marklend High before. That plant was really big and the pot that had broken over Mr. Yalowits head had been really heavy. And the plant had also been poisonous, at least that's what Mr. Yalowits had said one time. Mrs. Macnyah looked furious. She went over to the phone that was kept in the class room and called and ambulance to come and get Mr. Yalowits. Then she turned back to Zidane. "That's it Zidane. That was the final straw. I was thinking about giving you another chance but then you went and tried to kill one of your teachers! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?" Zidane didn't even bother trying to stick up for himself. He knew that no matter what he said she would never believe him. So what was the point? "You should be put in jail for this young man! In JAIL! Do you understand me? Do you understand what you have done?" By this point Mrs. Macnyah had drug Zidane out into the hall. Isabelle came running out into the hall after them. She had just realized what all was going on. She ran up in front of them forcing Mrs. Macnyah to stop. "He didn't do it Mrs. Macnyah! The only reason why he was up there was because he was trying to help! No one else would move! We were all to scared! So he went up there to try and help him! He was just…" "Child! I don't know what Zidane Tribal has put into your head. But you don't have to stick up for him. He did something bad. And now he is going to pay for it. He has gone long enough with not paying for what he has done bad. And now he will pay. Trying to kill a teacher, a person in general, is stepping way too far over the line." "But Mrs. Macnyah! He really didn't do anything bad! I promise!" "Look honey, I know Zidane Tribal. And I know how he makes girls like you feel. You can't give into him! He is bad. He has done bad things. AND HE JUST TRIED TO KILL A MAN FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Mrs. Macnyah pulled Zidane off to her office ignoring the things that Isabelle said. Right before she closed her office door Zidane looked back at Isabelle and gave her a look that she knew meant 'thanks for trying'.

"Mr. Tribal! You should be glad that your father is who he is because if he wasn't, you young man, would be going to jail right this moment." 'Yeah, to someone passing by that sure would make a lot of since' was what Zidane was thinking with a frown on his face. "And then getting that poor, little, innocent girl to stick up for you! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!" Zidane was starting to think that the sentence 'what is wrong with you' was Mrs. Macnyah's favorite saying. "I didn't ever ask her to stick up for me. You were there the whole time. Did you see me ask her to do anything?" "You didn't have to ask her Zidane. You had her pulled under your spell?" "What spell? I'm not a wizard. I can't do spells or magic. So what are you talking about woman?" "You know perfectly well what I am talking about, Zidane. It's the spell that every girl is under that likes you. They are obsessed with you. They think that you are some kind of god, or something. And if they are the nice, innocent kind like her, then they think that you can never do anything wrong. Even if they see it with their own two eyes. They choose not to believe it. They lie to themselves. And its all because of YOU!" Zidane just sat there and looked at her. He didn't feel like arguing back. He knew that he wouldn't win. So he wasn't going to try. They stood there for about five minutes just looking at each other. Both with hate in their eyes. Finally the bell rang. "Well Mr. Tribal, do you have any request before you are expelled?" Mrs. Macnyah said with that false sweetness in her voice that all the teachers at Marklend High seemed to have when speaking to Zidane. "Yeah. Can I go to seventh period? Don't worry. I won't try to kill anyone. And even if I did, Mr. Gunzalis keeps a gun under his desk." Mrs. Macnyah didn't see what the harm would be in letting him go to seventh period. Because just as he said, Mr. Gunzalis did keep a gun under his desk and he was a huge man who had once been in the army, so she didn't see how Zidane could hurt him in anyway. Besides, she was scared that if he stayed in her for any longer he might punch her. "Yes, I suppose. You may go." Zidane walked out of her office and slammed the door behind him. He hated her so much. She was actually going to expel him. Where was he supposed to go if he got expelled? He walked to his locker and got his books. He didn't really mind being expelled. It was just the thought of his dad finding out about it. What would he do? After Zidane got his books he walked to his seventh period class. The bell had already rung and all of the kids were sitting down in their seats. They all looked over at him when he walked in the door. "Your excuse Mr. Tribal?" Zidane didn't see why all of the teachers in the school had to call him Mr. Tribal. He hated being called Mr. Tribal. It reminded him of his dad. And the last thing on earth that he wanted to be was anything like his dad. "I was in the principal's office." "Oh, got in trouble for the usual, I suppose?" "No. I got in trouble for trying to "killing" Mr. Yelowits." At that the whole class gasped. They had seen the ambulance and Mr. Yalowits get carried out. But none of them had known what happened. Mr. Gunzalis suddenly got pail. It looked as if he were reaching for the gun under his desk. "And did you try to kill Mr. Yalowits?" asked Mr. Gunzalis. He looked as if he regretted asking the question. "No. I didn't. But what's the point in telling you. Its not like you or anyone else in this school is going to believe me." Cinna was sitting in the back row. He was the palest person in the room. He knew that Zidane would never try to kill anyone. But he also knew that if it looked like he had tried to, then almost everyone in the school would believe it. Mr. Gunzalis looked a little relived. He wasn't as pale anymore. Zidane went and sat down in his seat beside Cinna. Cinna looked as if he were about to faint. "I didn't try to kill him you know." Zidane said without even looking at Cinna. "I know. But you're gunna get in big trouble!" "Yeah, I know. I'm being expelled for sure now." Zidane said all of this without looking at Cinna. Cinna hated it when Zidane did that. Yet, Zidane seemed to do it a lot. Cinna just couldn't figure out Zidane. He couldn't figure out why he didn't like to look at people's faces when he was talking to them a lot. He just couldn't figure it out. "But Zidane! You can't get expelled. You're my only friend. You're the only person here who likes me. You're the only person who puts up with me! You're the only person who sticks up for me when someone is about to beat me up! You can't leave! I'll have no one!" Cinna looked like he was going to start crying again. Finally Zidane looked at him. "I'm sorry, Cinna. But there is nothing I can do about it. I'm getting expelled. And no one can change that. Not me. Not you. Not anyone." Cinna just stared at Zidane for a few seconds and then he looked down at his desk. All Cinna wanted to do was yell at Zidane 'WHY CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!' but he knew that he would sound stupid and childish. So he didn't. He just sat there, staring at his hands. He didn't want to be a bad friend but he knew that he probably was. He wasn't doing anything to help Zidane. So how could he not be a bad friend? He wanted to help. He really did. But what could he do? What could anyone do? He didn't know. He felt like he didn't know anything. Like he never knew anything. He felt so stupid and helpless. He looked back up at Zidane. Zidane didn't have any emotion showing on his face. None at all. Cinna just didn't get it. How could Zidane not care? He was being expelled, yet he didn't seem to care at all. Cinna just keep thinking. He knew that if it were any other day, Zidane would have looked over at him and told him 'Stop thinking so much, you might hurt yourself.' And then he would smile that famous smile of his. The smile that made every girl fall in love with him. The smile that made him Zidane Tribal. But it wasn't any other day. And Cinna didn't expect to see a smile on Zidane's face at all. Although Zidane's face was emotionless, Cinna still knew that Zidane wasn't happy about being expelled. There was a difference between 'emotionless' and 'happy'. All of a sudden Cinna's eyes got big. He had just realized something. "Zidane, what is your dad going to do when he finds out about this?" Zidane just kept looking at the front of the room. He shrugged. "Depends." Was all he said. "What do you mean 'depends'?" Cinna was freaking out, like he always did. Zidane shrugged again. Ever time Zidane shrugged, it made Cinna more edgy. "Well, if he is sober than I will get yelled at a lot…" They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Finally Cinna figured out that Zidane wasn't going to say anything else. "And if he's not sober?" Cinna didn't know if he wanted the answer. Zidane had been beaten up by his dad for being home a couple of minutes late, before when his dad had been drunk. What would he do if he heard that Zidane had gotten expelled and he was drunk? Zidane shrugged, again. "I dunno. Guess we'll find out, huh?" Neither Cinna nor Zidane had any clue what was going on in the class. For all they cared, they could be in the middle of the desert and none of it would make a difference. They just sat there for the next thirty minutes in complete silence. Neither one of them said anything. Not a word. Finally the bell rang. Everyone got up out of their seats and started moving towards the classroom door. Cinna stood up and looked down at Zidane. Zidane just kept sitting there like nothing had happened. Finally, when almost all of the kids had gotten out of the class, Zidane stood up. He started walking towards the door. Cinna followed him in silence. He didn't know what else to do. They walked down to the place where their lockers were and started to get their books out. Well, Cinna started to get his books out. Zidane put his books in, got his book bag out, and started down the hall. Cinna got the stuff that he needed out of his locker and followed Zidane. When they got to the end of the hall they stopped. Cinna had to go one way to get on the bus, and Zidane had to go the other way. "I'll see you later, right?" Cinna asked. Sort of stammering over his words. "Yeah, I guess." Was all Zidane said and he started walking toward the road. Cinna just stood there and watched him until he couldn't see him any longer. Then he went and got on his bus.

Zidane walked down the road in silence. He knew that as soon as he got home he was going to get in a lot of trouble, no matter if his dad was drunk or not. When he had walked past the principal's office on the way out of the school, he had heard her on the phone with his dad. He just kept on walking. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe…. When Zidane got home he saw his dad sitting there on the couch. In his dad's hand was and almost empty beer. Zidane stepped in the house and closed the door behind him. His dad looked at him for a few seconds and then without any warning, the almost empty beer bottle came flying at Zidane's head. Zidane dunked right before it hit him and it smashed against the wall. "WHAT THE FUCKING HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING GETTING YOURSELF EXPELLED??" Zidane's dad was standing up now and he was walking towards him. Zidane just stood there. Zidane's dad punched Zidane and yelled at him "ANSWER ME BOY! DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN JUST SLAK OFF YOUR WHOLE LIFE? HUH? WELL I'LL TELL YOU. YOU FUCKING CAN'T! YOU ARE A SORRY, DIRTY, GOOD FOR NOTHING, PIECE OF SHIT! YOU DON'T DISERVE TO BE IN THIS FAMILY!" ever time that he said something that represented how horrible of a person Zidane was he punched him. So by now, Zidane had been punched six times and his face was bruised and bloody. "GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T KICK YOUR SORRY ASS OUT!" Zidane just stood there not saying anything. This made his father even angrier. He Hit Zidane in the stomach really hard and Zidane spit up blood. "ANSWER ME BOY!!" now he was kicking Zidane repeatedly in the stomach and making him spit up more blood. There was a puddle of blood on the carpet. Zidane's younger sister walked out of her room. She saw what was going on and she ran downstairs. "Stop it daddy!!! Please!! Stop it!!!!" She was crying and she ran in front of Zidane so that he's dad couldn't kick him. "Mikoto, get out of the way and go up to your room. None of this concerns you." Her dad said angrily. Mikoto refused to budge. Zidane grabbed Mikoto's arm and made him look at her. "Go, I'll be fine. Just get out of the way. And don't come back down." It was hard for Zidane to speak without spitting up more blood. Mikoto hesitated. She looked from her father to her brother. And then she ran upstairs crying. Zidane's father glared at him for a moment and then he punched him in the stomach as hard as he could. Zidane Spit up a great amount of blood and then passed out.

The next morning Zidane woke up in the exact spot where he had passed out the night before. His sister and brother were sitting down beside him. They looked very worried and he could tell that they had been crying. He looked at them and tried to say that everything was okay, that he was okay. But he couldn't. Every time he tried to talk he spit out blood. Mikoto started crying again and buried her face in Zidane's chest. The three of them just sat there in silence for a while. Then Mikoto and Alex helped Zidane up and helped him get to his room. For the rest of the day he slept. When he woke up, it was Sunday morning. Mikoto and Alex were both in his room. They had stayed there all day and all night. After he had been awake for about 15 minutes, Mikoto woke up. "Are you feeling better?" She asked. She still looked very sad. "Yeah. I can actually talk now." Zidane gave her a faint smile and then laid his head back on his pillow. "Oh yeah, last night when dad got home from work, he said that he had in rolled you in some privet school. Or something like that. He doesn't know if you are going to get in or not. Not yet at least. He says that you have a pretty good chance though since you test score are high, and stuff." Zidane looked up at her. He was still comprehending what she had just said. "Dad in rolled me in a privet school?" "Yeah! And you're probably going to get into it to! So you can go and finish high school. Isn't that great?" Mikoto had a really excited and happy look on her face. "Yeah, I guess." Zidane didn't really know what to think of this. He had never liked privet schools. He had always thought that all of the kids that went to them were stuck up and snobby. So he really didn't know what to think. And in privet school they gave a lot more homework. From what he had heard, at least. And he didn't even know if he wanted to finish high school in the first place. He was sure that he could get a good job somewhere without a complete high school education. But whatever. It didn't matter. He knew that he had to go to school. "So, when do I start at this school, if I get in, that is." Mikoto just stared at him for a moment with a confused look on her face. "Tomorrow, I guess. The people said that they would be calling some time to day. I think." Zidane never could get much information out of Mikoto. He didn't find it surprising, though. She was only ten, after all.

Zidane got up and walked down stairs. His dad was sitting on the couch. "When do I start at my new school?" Zidane was staring right at his dad, but his dad didn't even look up from his newspaper. "Tomorrow. If you get in. I'm still waiting for the people to call me. And if you do get in, then you will need to pack up a lot of your stuff. You will be living on campus and only come home for holidays. The school is a long way away." Zidane wasn't surprised by this. He knew that none of the schools around where they lived wanted him to go to school there. They all thought that he would ruin the school and give it a bad name, which he might do. Zidane went up stairs and got his skateboard and then he left the house. He road his skateboard over to Cinna's house. He figured that he should tell Cinna what was going on. So that Cinna could stop worrying so much. When he got to Cinna's house he went up to the door and rang the door bell. It made a horrible noise and Zidane remembered why he usually just knocked. With in seconds, Cinna was at the door. When he opened the door he looked at Zidane and then grabbed him and hugged him. "Whoa. Dude, personal space. No hugging, please." Cinna let go and just stared at Zidane like he was surprised that he was alive. "Well, are you going to invite me in or what?" Zidane asked with a smirk. "Oh, yeah!" Cinna, just now appearing to realize that they were outside of his house, walked inside with Zidane following him. After they got inside of the house, Cinna closed the door and they went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Cinna's parents were away on a business trip so Cinna had been at home alone for a week. The house was a mess. Cinna kept asking Zidane questions and he wouldn't stop until Zidane answer every single one of them. The last question that Cinna asked was "So, what are you going to do now that you're expelled?" Cinna wasn't expecting what Zidane replied. He was expecting. 'I dunno. Sit around watching TV all day, I guess.' Or 'Eh…. Ya know, go around town, causing havoc, and such.' But instead what he got was "Well… you see, my dad has kind of… put me in this privet school thing. And so… I'm going to go up there wherever it is and live on campus, and stuff." Cinna was gawking. "You… Zidane Tribal… Are going to a privet school? You have got to be crazy kidding me!" "Hehe… Nope." Cinna looked over at Zidane. And for the first time in all the time that Cinna had known Zidane, (which had basically been his whole life) Zidane looked embarrassed. Cinna shook his head and started laughing. He didn't know why, but it was really funny. "What are you laughing about?" Zidane said warningly. "Nothing, its nothing." "Sure it isn't." Zidane got up and walked out of the house. Cinna jumped up and started following him. When they got outside, Zidane jumped on his skateboard and Cinna grabbed his bike. They rode down the road for a little while and then Zidane stopped. He just stopped in the middle of the road and Cinna almost ran into him. "What is it?" He asked. Zidane looked back at him and said with a goofy smile on his face "You wanna do something crazy?" Cinna stared at him for a few seconds and then he said "By crazy, you mean?" "I mean… you know that big hill on Halmans Way?" Cinna knew the hill. The hill was the largest and most dangerest hill in there town. It was really long and really steep. It had a lot of rough edges and if anyone fell down while they were riding there bike or skateboard on it, they most likely weren't going to get back up. "Yeah, I know it. What about it?" Cinna didn't want to know what Zidane was thinking. At the end of whatever it was they were going to do, one of them was going to be hurt really badly. That's the way Zidane did things after all. If you couldn't get hurt doing it, then he didn't find it fun. And Cinna was usually the person who got hurt. "How about, you and me, race down the hill?" Zidane still had the wacky smile and his face and Cinna didn't like it. "Uhhh… But Zidane, we could get hurt really bad!" "So what about it? We don't have anything better to do. And how bad are a few little scratches going to hurt?" a few little scratches was an understatement. They just stood there looking at each other and then Zidane said with a sigh "Fine, we'll do something less dangerous." Zidane wasn't smiling any more. Now he was frowning. Cinna didn't like disappointing Zidane. But he couldn't help wanting to be safe. Zidane and Cinna went to the skate park and just hung out there for the rest of the day. When it got late, Cinna's mom called him and demanded that he come home right away before it got any later. Cinna and Zidane said goodbye and then they went there separate ways. When Zidane got home it was pitch black outside. His dad was sitting on the couch with his brother and sister watching a movie. That was a good sign. It meant that his dad wasn't drunk and that Zidane wouldn't get in any trouble for being home after dark. Zidane's dad looked at him and said "The people at the school called. They said that you were welcome to come to the school and that they would be glad to have you. They want you to be there for school in the morning. After your first day of school you will get assigned your dorm. So go upstairs and pack. You will have to be at the airport at 4:30 in the morning." Zidane sighed and walked up the stairs. He didn't want to go. As much as he hated home, he figured that he would hate this place just as much, or even more. He sighed again and fell down on his bed. He hated packing. Why couldn't he just buy new clothes when he got there? Oh well. He had to pack. Just like he had to go to school. And he had to live his "wonderful" life. He got up and walked over to his closet. He grabbed all of the clothes that could fit into his suit case and then he got the other stuff that he need. He was done in fifteen minutes. He put his suit case on the ground and set his alarm clock for four A.M. He took off his clothes and turned off the lights and got in bed. He laid in bed for a few minutes just staring out his window at the stars. Finally he closed his eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. A very, long day.


End file.
